Heintz Appointed Director of the UVM Cellular, Molecular, and Biomedical Sciences Program

Professor of Pathology and Director of the Cellular, Molecular and Biomedical Sciences Program Nicholas Heintz, Ph.D. (Photo by Alec Jacobson)

The University of Vermont Graduate College has appointed Nicholas Heintz, Ph.D., professor of pathology at the UVM College of Medicine, as director of the Cellular, Molecular and Biomedical Sciences Program (CMB). He took over the position July 1, 2013, succeeding the term of Mary Tierney, Ph.D., professor of plant biology at the UVM College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Heintz, who is also a member of the Vermont Cancer Center, is a research scientist with a focus on developing new therapeutic approaches to treat mesothelioma and other solid tumor types. He has trained eight postdoctoral fellows and 13 Ph.D. candidates in his lab, has participated in more than 50 thesis studies committees and continues to teach in several medical and graduate student courses. Heintz earned both his Ph.D. in medical microbiology and M.S. in cell biology from UVM, and after postdoctoral training at the University of Virginia joined the UVM pathology faculty as a research assistant professor in 1983. He was promoted in 1987 to assistant professor, and became a full professor in 1998. He most recently served as interim director of basic research at the Vermont Cancer Center, and from 2002-2006 was director of the DNA Analysis and Flow Cytometry Cores at the VCC. He has also served on the UVM Faculty Senate, and has participated in nearly 40 University and College committees.

“Dr. Heintz has been a successful, researcher, teacher and mentor in the CMB program since joining the UVM faculty,” said Cynthia Forehand, Ph.D., interim dean of the Graduate College. “His wide-spread support among the faculty and students, and his vision for developing the program further make him an excellent choice for the new director of CMB.”

The Cellular, Molecular and Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program originated in 1971 as the Cell Biology program, and re-launched in 2012 as an expanded program merging five graduate programs: cell and molecular biology; microbiology and molecular genetics; molecular physiology and biophysics; biochemistry; and pharmacology. With the merger, the CMB program now includes 85 faculty members across four Colleges and over 70 Ph.D. students.